Monzaemon Chikamatsu (近松モンザエモン, Chikamatsu Monzaemon) is the inventor of the art of puppetry. Originally using puppets as a source of entertainment, Chikamatsu worked diligently with several shinobi to convert the talent into a unique form of combat. Eventually, he created the Puppet Technique, in which chakra strings are used to control puppets.

Being the creator of the technique, Chikamatsu was the very first shinobi-puppeteer, and as such he created the White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets. The puppets, reportedly strong enough to take down an entire castle, were designed to work together and, as such, were much more powerful than the standard puppet. One such example was the puppets' use of Three Jewels Suction Crushing, which consisted of the combining of three puppets to create a vortex that sucked in everything in range.

Each of the ten puppets were controlled by a single chakra string from one of the user's ten fingers. It is unknown how Chiyo acquired them, but she was skilled in their use, as seen when she used them in her battle against Sasori.

Trivia

Monzaemon Chikamatsu is based off of a famous Japanese playwright with the same name, widely regarded as the greatest playwright in Japanese history. He wrote both for the puppet theatre jōruri and the life-action theatre kabuki, and is often called the Japanese Shakespeare.